UNIVERSITY  OF  N.C.  AT  CHAPEL  HILL 


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AW<^4 


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DATE                           RET 
DUE 

DATE                            RET 
DUE 

S*?7  Q  a  igof 

ecp  0  2  1892i 

iVS^SISSiSS&f  -'A5S./fX» 

cs^nvrraBrcsssHssjy  ^ 

■vTO  •'  \s-^^Vt>i-i<',Ar,Pf;53: 

SffiEW-*7"i'-T\0 

LETTERS    FROM    A    CAT. 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2012  with  funding  from 

University  of  North  Carolina  at  Chapel  Hil 


http://www.archive.org/details/lettersfromcatpujack 


gcliidr  f. 


7   a  i^S-<-     ' 


Letters  from  a  Cat, 


PUBLISHED    BY    HER    MISTRESS 


JFor  tlje  benefit  of  all  Cats 


AND 


THE    AMUSEMENT    OF    LITTLE    CHILDREN. 


BY  H.  H. 


AUTHOR   OF    "  NELLY  S    SILV. 


WITH  SEVENTEEN  ILLUSTRATIO 


BOSTON: 

ROBERTS      BROTHERS. 

1879. 


Copyright,   1S79, 
By  Roberts  Brothers. 


INTRODUCTION. 


Dear  Children  : 

DO  not  feel  wholly 
sure  that  my  Pussy 
wrote  these  letters 
herself.  They  al- 
ways came  inside 
the  letters  written 
to  me  by  my  mamma,  or  other  friends,  and 
I  never  caught  Pussy  writing  at  any  time 
when   I   was   at  home  ;    but   the   printing 


v^ 


588970 


INTRODUCTION. 


was  pretty  bad,  and  they  were  signed  by 
Pussy's  name ;  and  my  mamma  always 
looked  very  mysterious  when  I  asked  about 
them,  as  if  there  were  some  very  great 
secret  about  it  all  ;  so  that  until  I  grew 
to  be  a  big  girl,  I  never  doubted  but  that 
Pussy  printed  them  all  alone  by  herself, 
after  dark. 

They  were  written  when  I  was  a  very 
little  girl,  and  was  away  from  home  with 
my  father  on  a  journey.  We  made  this 
journey  in  our  own  carriage,  and  it  was 
one  of  the  pleasantest  things  that  ever 
happened  to  me.  My  clothes  and  my 
father's  were  packed  in  a  little  leather 
valise  which  was   hung  by  straps   under- 


INTRODUCTION. 


neath  the  carriage,  and  went  swinging, 
swinging,  back  and  forth,  as  the  wheels 
went  round.  My  father  and  I  used  to 
walk  up  all  the  steep  hills,  because  old 
Charley,  our  horse,  was  not  very  strong  ; 
and  I  kept  my  eyes  on  that  valise  all 
the  while  I  was  walking  behind  the  car- 
riage ;  it  seemed  to  me  the  most  unsafe 
way  to  carry  a  valise,  and  I  wished  very 
much  that  my  best  dress  had  been  «put  in 
a  bundle  that  I  could  carry  in  my  lap. 
This  was  the  only  drawback  on  the  pleas- 
ure of  my  journey,  —  my  fear  that  the 
valise  would  fall  off  when  we  did  not  know 
it,  and  be  left  in  the  road,  and  then  I  should 
not   have  anything  nice   to  wear  when    I 


INTRODUCTION. 


reached  my  aunt's  house.  But  the  valise 
went  through  all  safe,  and  I  had  the  sat- 
isfaction of  wearing  my  best  dress  every 
afternoon  while  I  stayed ;  and  I  was  foolish 
enough  to  think  a  great  deal  of  this. 

On  the  fourth  day  after  our  arrival  came 
a  letter  from  my  mamma,  giving  me  a 
great  many  directions  how  to  behave,  and 
enclosing  this  first  letter  from  Pussy.  I 
carried  both  letters  in  my  apron  pocket 
all  the  time.  They  were  the  first  letters 
I  ever  had  received,  and  I  was  very  proud 
of  them.  I  showed  them  to  everybody, 
and  everybody  laughed  hard  at  Pussy's, 
and  asked  me  if  I  believed  that  Pussy 
printed  it  herself.     I  thought  perhaps  my 


INTRODUCTION. 


mamma  held  her  paw,  with  the  pen  in  it, 
as  she  had  sometimes  held  my  hand  for 
me,  and  guided  my  pen  to  write  a  few 
words.  I  asked  papa  to  please  to  ask 
mamma,  in  his  letter,  if  that  were  the  way 
Pussy  did  it ;  but  when  his  next  letter 
from  mamma  came,  he  read  me  this  sen- 
tence out  of  it :  "  Tell  Helen  I  did  not 
hold  Pussy's  paw  to  write  that  letter." 
So  then  I  felt  sure  Pussy  did  it  herself; 
and  as  I  told  you,  I  had  grown  up  to  be 
quite  a  big  girl  before  I  began  to  doubt 
it.  You  see  I  thought  my  Pussy  such  a 
wonderful  Pussy  that  nothing  was  too  re- 
markable for  her  to  do.  I  knew  very  well 
that  cats  generally  did   not  know  how  to 


io  INTRODUCTION. 

read  or  write  ;  but  I  thought  there  had 
never  been  such  a  cat  in  the  world  as  this 
Pussy  of  mine.  It  is  a  great  many  years 
since  she  died ;  but  I  can  see  her  before 
me  to-day  as  plainly  as  if  it  were  only 
yesterday  that  I  had  really  seen  her  alive. 
She  was  a  little  kitten  when  I  first  had 
her  ;  but  she  grew  fast,  and  was  very  soon 
bigger  than  I  wanted  her  to  be.  I  wanted 
her  to  stay  little.  Her  fur  was  a  beautiful 
dark  gray  color,  and  there  were  black 
stripes  on  her  sides,  like  the  stripes  on  a 
tiger.  Her  eyes  were  very  big,  and  her 
ears  unusually  long  and  pointed.  This 
made  her  look  like  a  fox ;  and  she  was  so 
bright  and  mischievous  that  some  people 


INTR  OD  UCTION.  1 1 

thought  she  must  be  part  fox.  She  used 
to  do  one  thing  that  I  never  heard  of  any 
other  cat's  doing :  she  used  .to  play  hide- 
and-seek.  Did  you  ever  hear  of  a  cat's 
playing  hide-and-seek?  And  the  most 
wonderful  part  of  it  was,  that  she  took  it 
up  of,  her  own  accord.  As  soon  as  she 
heard  me  shut  the  gate  in  the  yard  at  noon, 
when  school  was  done,  she  would  run  up 
the  stairs  as  hard  as  she  could  go,  and 
take  her  place  at  the  top,  where  she  could 
just  peep  through  the  banisters.  When 
I  opened  the  door,  she  would  give  a  funny 
little  mew,  something  like  the  mew  cats 
make  when  they  call  their  kittens.  Then 
as  soon  as  I  stepped  on  the  first  stair  to 


1 2  INTR  OD  UCTION. 

come  up  to  her,  she  would  race  away  at 
the  top  of  her  speed,  and  hide  under  a 
bed  ;  and  when  I  reached  the  room,  there 
would  be  no  Pussy  to  be  seen.  If  I  called 
her,  she  would  come  out  from  under  the 
bed ;  but  if  I  left  the  room,  and  went  down 
stairs  without  speaking,  in  less  than  a  min- 
ute she  would  fly  back  to  her  post  at  the 
head  of  the  stairs,  and  call  again  with  the 
peculiar  mew.  As  soon  as  I  appeared, 
off  she  would  run,  and  hide  under  the  bed 
as  before.  Sometimes  she  would  do  this 
three  or  four  times ;  and  it  was  a  favorite 
amusement  of  my  mother's  to  exhibit  this 
trick  of  hers  to  strangers.  It  was  odd, 
though  ;  she  never  would  do  it  twice,  when 


INTR  OD  UCTION.  1 3 

she  observed  that  other  people  were  watch- 
ing. When  I  called  her,  and  she  came  out 
from  under  the  bed,  if  there  were  strangers 
looking  on,  she  would  walk  straight  to  me 
in  the  demurest  manner,  as  if  it  were  a 
pure  accident  that  she  happened  to  be 
under  that  bed  ;  and  no  matter  what  I  did 
or  said,  her  frolic  was  over  for  that  day. 
She  used  to  follow  me,  just  like  a  little 
dog,  wherever  I  went.  She  followed  me 
to  school  every  day,  and  we  had  great  diffi- 
culty on  Sundays  to  keep  her  from  follow- 
ing us  to  church.  Once  she  followed  me, 
when  it  made  a  good  many  people  laugh, 
in  spite  of  themselves,  on  an  occasion 
when    it  was   very  improper   for  them  to 


14  INTRODUCTION. 

laugh,  and  they  were  all  feeling  very  sad. 
It  was  at  the  funeral  of  one  of  the  profes- 
sors in  the  college. 

The  professors'  families  all  sat  together  ; 
and  when  the  time  came  for  them  to  walk 
out  of  the  house  and  get  into  the  carriages 
to  go  to  the  graveyard,  they  were  called, 
one  after  the  other,  by  name.  When  it 
came  to  our  turn,  my  father  and  mother 
went  first,  arm-in-arm ;  then  my  sister  and 
I  ;  and  then,  who  should  rise,  very  gravely, 
but  my  Pussy,  who  had  slipped  into  the 
room  after  me,  and  had  not  been  noticed 
in  the  crowd.  With  a  slow  and  deliberate 
gait  she  walked  along,  directly  behind  my 
sister  and  me,  as  if  she  were  the  remaining 


INTR  OD  UCTION.  1 5 

member  of  the  family,  as  indeed  she  was. 
People  began  to  smile,  and  as  we  passed 
through  the  front  door,  and  went  down  the 
steps,  some  of  the  men  and  boys  standing 
there  laughed  out.  I  do  not  wonder ;  for 
it  must  have  been  a  very  comical  sight. 
In  a  second  more,  somebody  sprang  for- 
ward and  snatched  Pussy  up.  Such  a 
scream  as  she  gave !  and  scratched  his  face 
with  her  claws,  so  that  he  was  glad  to  put 
her  down.  As  soon  as  I  heard  her  voice, 
I  turned  round,  and  called  her  in  a  low 
tone.  She  ran  quickly  to  me,  and  I  picked 
her  up  and  carried  her  in  my  arms  the  rest 
of  the  way.  But  I  saw  even  my  own  papa 
and  mamma  laughing  a  little,  for  just  a 


1 6  INTRODUCTION. 

minute.  That  was  the  only  funeral  Pussy 
ever  attended. 

Pussy  lived  several  years  after  the 
events  which  are  related  in  these 
letters. 

It  was  a  long  time  before  her  fur  grew 
out  again  after  that  terrible  fall  into  the 
soft-soap  barrel.  However,  it  did  grow 
out  at  last,  and  looked  as  well  as  ever. 
Nobody  would  have  known  that  any  thing 
had  been  the  matter  with  her,  except  that 
her  eyes  were  always  weak.  The  edges  of 
them  never  got  quite  well ;  and  poor  Pussy 
used  to  sit  and  wash  them  by  the  hour ; 
sometimes  mewing  and  looking  up  in  my 
face,  with  each  stroke  of  her  paw  on  her 


INTR  OD  UCTION.  1 7 

eyes,  as  much  as  to  say,  "  Don't  you  see 
how  sore  my  eyes  are  ?  Why  don't  you 
do  something  for  me  ?  " 

She  was  never  good  for  any  thing  as  a 
mouser  after  that  accident,  nor  for  very 
much  to  play  with.  I  recollect  hearing 
my  mother  say  one  day  to  somebody, — 
"  Pussy  was  spoiled  by  her  experience  in 
the  cradle.  She  would  like  to  be  rocked 
the  rest  of  her  days,  I  do  believe  ;  and  it 
is  too  funny  to  see  her  turn  up  her  nose 
at  tough  beef.  It  was  a  pity  she  ever 
got  a  taste  of  tenderloin ! " 

At  last,  what  with  good  feeding  and 
very  little  exercise,  she  grew  so  fat  that 
she  was  clumsy,  and  so  lazy  that  she  did 


not  want  to  do  any  thing  but  lie  curled  up 
on  a  soft  cushion. 

She  had  outgrown  my  little  chair,  which 
had  a  green  moreen  cushion  in  it,  on 
which  she  had  slept  for  many  a  year,  and 
of  which  I  myself  had  very  little  use,  —  she 
was  in  it  so  much  of  the  time.  But  now 
that  this  was  too  tight  for  her,  she  took 
possession  of  the  most  comfortable  places 
she  could  find,  all  over  the  house.  Now  it 
was  a  sofa,  now  it  was  an  arm-chair,  now  it 
was  the  foot  of  somebody's  bed.  But  wher- 
ever it  happened  to  be,  it  was  sure  to  be 
the  precise  place  where  she  was  in  the  way, 
and  the  poor  thing  was  tipped  headlong 
out  of  chairs,  shoved  hastily  off  sofas,  and 


INTR  OD  UCTION.  1 9 

driven  off  beds  so  continually,  that  at  last 
she  came  to  understand  that  when  she  saw 
any  person  approaching  the  chair,  sofa,  or 
bed  on  which  she  happened  to  be  lying, 
the  part  of  wisdom  for  her  was  to  move 
away.  And  it  was  very  droll  to  see  the 
injured  and  reproachful  expression  with 
which  she  would  slowly  get  up,  stretch  all 
her  legs,  and  walk  away,  looking  for  her 
next  sleeping-place.  Everybody  in  the 
house,  except  me,  hated  the  sight  of  her; 
and  I  had  many  a  pitched  battle  with  the 
servants  in  her  behalf.  Even  my  mother, 
who  was  the  kindest  human  being  I  ever 
knew,  got  out  of  patience  at  last,  and  said 
to  me  one  day :  — 


20  INTRODUCTION. 

"  Helen,  your  Pussy  has  grown  so  old 
and  so  fat,  she  is  no  comfort  to  herself, 
and  a  great  torment  to  everybody  else. 
I  think  it  would  be  a  mercy  to  kill 
her." 

"  Kill  my  Pussy ! "  I  exclaimed,  and 
burst  out  crying,  so  loud  and  so  hard 
that  I  think  my  mother  was  frightened ; 
for  she  said  quickly  :  — 

"  Never  mind,  dear ;  it  shall  not  be 
done,  unless  it  is  necessary.  You  would 
not  want  Pussy  to  live,  if  she  were  very 
uncomfortable  all  the  time." 

"  She  isn't  uncomfortable,"  I  cried ; 
"  she  is  only  sleepy.  If  people  would 
let   her    alone,   she   would   sleep   all   day. 


INTR  OD  UCTION.  2 1 

It  would  be  awful  to  kill  her.  You  might 
as  well  kill  me!" 

After  that,  I  kept  a  very  close  eye  on 
Pussy ;  and  I  carried  her  up  to  bed  with 
me  every  night  for  a  long  time. 

But  Pussy's  days  were  numbered. 
One  morning,  before  I  was  up,  my  mamma 
came  into  my  room,  and  sat  down  on  the 
edge  of  my  bed. 

"  Helen,"  she  said,  "  I  have  something 
to  tell  you  which  will  make  you  feel  very 
badly ;  but  I  hope  you  will  be  a  good 
little  girl,  and  not  make  mamma  unhappy 
about  it.  You  know  your  papa  and 
mamma  always  do  what  they  think  is 
the  very  best  thing." 


22  INTRODUCTION. 

"  What  is  it,  mamma  ?  "  I  asked,  feel- 
ing very  much  frightened,  but  never  think- 
ing of  Pussy. 

"  You  will  never  see  your  Pussy  any 
more,"  she  replied.     "  She  is  dead." 

"  Oh,  where  is  she?"  I  cried.  "What 
killed  her  ?  Won't  she  come  to  life 
again  ?  " 

"  No,"  said  my  mother ;  "  she  is 
drowned." 

Then  I  knew  what  had  happened. 

"Who  did  it?"  was  all  I  said. 

"  Cousin  Josiah,"  she  replied  ;  "  and 
he  took  great  care  that  Pussy  did  not 
suffer  at  all.  She  sank  to  the  bottom 
instantly." 


INTRODUCTION.  23 

"  Where  did  he  drown  her  ?  "  I  asked. 

"Down  by  the  mill,  in  Mill  Valley, 
where  the  water  is  very  deep,"  answered 
my  mother ;  "  we  told  him  to  take  her 
there." 

At  these  words  I  cried  bitterly. 

"That's  the  very  place  I  used  to  go 
with  her  to  play,"  I  exclaimed.  "  I  '11  never 
go  near  that  bridge  as  long  as  I  live,  and 
I  '11  never  speak  a  word  to  Cousin  Josiah 
either  —  never  !  " 

My  mother  tried  to  comfort  me,  but 
it  was  of  no  use  ;  my  heart  was  nearly 
broken. 

When  I  went  to  breakfast,  there  sat 
my  cousin  Josiah,  looking  as  unconcerned 


24  INTRODUCTION. 

as  possible,  reading  a  newspaper.  He  was 
a  student  in  the  college,  and  boarded  at  our 
house.  At  the  sight  of  him  all  my  indigna- 
tion and  grief  broke  forth  afresh.  I  began 
to  cry  again ;  and  running  up  to  him,  I 
doubled  up  my  fist  and  shook  it  in  his  face. 

"  I  said  I  'd  never  speak  to  you  as  long 
as  I  lived,"  I  cried ;  "  but  I  will.  You  're 
just  a  murderer,  a  real  murderer  ;  that  s 
what  you  are !  and  when  you  go  to  be  a 
missionary,  I  hope  the  cannibals  '11  eat 
you !  I  hope  they  '11  eat  you  alive  raw, 
you  mean  old  murderer !  " 

"  Helen  Maria  !  "  said  my  father's  voice 
behind  me,  sternly.  "Helen  Maria!  leave 
the  room  this  moment ! " 


INTRODUCTION.  25 

I  went  away  sullenly,  muttering,  "  I 
don't  care,  he  is  a  murderer ;  and  I  hope 
he  '11  be  drowned,  if  he  isn't  eaten !  The 
Bible  says  the  same  measure  ye  mete  shall 
be  meted  to  you  again.  He  ought  to  be 
drowned." 

For  this  sullen  muttering  I  had  to  go 
without  my  breakfast  ;  and  after  break- 
fast was  over,  I  was  made  to  beg  Cousin 
Josiah's  pardon  ;  but  I  did  not  beg  it 
in  my  heart — not  a  bit  —  only  with  my 
lips,  just  repeating  the  words  I  was  told 
to  say  ;  and  from  that  time  I  never  spoke 
one  word  to  him,  nor  looked  at  him,  if  I 
could  help  it. 

My  kind  mother  offered  to  get  another 


26 


INTRODUCTION. 


kitten  for  me,  but  I  did  not  want  one. 
After  a  while,  my  sister  Ann  had  a  present 
of  a  pretty  little  gray  kitten  ;  but  I  never 
played  with  it,  nor  took  any  notice  of  it 
at  all.  I  was  as  true  to  my  Pussy  as  she 
was  to  me  ;  and  from  that  day  to  this,  I 
have  never  had  another  Pussy  1 


LETTERS    FROM    A    CAT. 


I. 

My  Dear  Helen  : 

That  is  what  your  mother  calls 
you,  I  know,  for  I  jumped  up  on 
her  writing-table  just  now,  and 
looked,  while  she  was  out  of  the 
room ;  and  I  am  sure  I  have  as 
much  right  to  call  you  so  as  she 
has,  for  if  you  were  my  own  little 
kitty,  and  looked  just  like  me,  I 
could  not  love  you  any  more  than 


I  do.  How  many  good  naps  I 
have  had  in  your  lap !  and  how 
many  nice  bits  of  meat  you  have 
saved  for  me  out  of  your  own  din- 
ner !  Oh,  I  '11  never  let  a  rat,  or  a 
mouse,  touch  any  thing  of  yours  so 
long  as  I  live. 

I  felt  very  unhappy  after  you 
drove  off  yesterday,  and  did  not 
know  what  to  do  with  myself.  I 
went  into  the  barn,  and  thought  I 
would  take  a  nap  on  the  hay,  for 
I  do  think  going  to  sleep  is  one  of 
the  very  best  things  for  people  who 
are  unhappy ;  but  it  seemed  so 
lonely  without  old  Charlie  stamping 
in  his  stall  that  I  could  not  bear  it, 


I  felt  very  unhappy  after  you  drove  off  yesterday. 
Page  28. 


LETTERS  FROM  A    CAT.  29 

so  I  went  into  the  garden,  and  lay 
down  under  the  damask  rose-bush, 
and  caught  flies.  There  is  a  kind 
of  fly  round  that  bush  which  I  like 
better  than  any  other  I  ever  ate. 
You  ought  to  see  that  there  is  a 
very  great  difference  between  my 
catching  flies  and  your  doing  it.  I 
have  noticed  that  you  never  eat 
them,  and  I  have  wondered  that 
when  you  were  always  so  kind  to 
me  you  could  be  so  cruel  as  to  kill 
poor  flies  for  nothing :  I  have  often 
wished  that  I  could  speak  to  you 
about  it :  now  that  your  dear  mother 
has  taught  me  to  print,  I  shall  be 
able  to  say  a  great  many  things  to 


30  LETTERS  FROM  A    CAT. 

you  which  I  have  often  been  un- 
happy about  because  I  could  not 
make  you  understand.  I  am  en- 
tirely discouraged  about  learning  to 
speak  the  English  language,  and  I 
do  not  think  anybody  takes  much 
trouble  to  learn  ours;  so  we  cats 
are  confined  entirely  to  the  society 
of  each  other,  which  prevents  our 
knowing  so  much  as  we  might;  and 
it  is  very  lonely  too,  in  a  place  where 
there  are  so  few  cats  kept  as  in 
Amherst.  If  it  were  not  for  Mrs. 
Hitchcock's  cat,  and  Judge  Dickin- 
son's, I  should  really  forget  how  to 
use  my  tongue.  When  you  are  at 
home  I  do  not  mind  it,  for  although 


LETTERS  FROM  A    CAT.  31 

I  cannot  talk  to  you,  I  understand 
every  word  that  you  say  to  me,  and 
we  have  such  good  plays  together 
with  the  red  ball.  That  is  put  away 
now  in  the  bottom  drawer  of  the 
little  workstand  in  the  sitting-room. 
When  your  mother  put  it  in,  she 
turned  round  to  me,  and  said,  "  Poor 
pussy,  no  more  good  plays  for  you 
till  Helen  comes  home!"  and  I 
thought  I  should  certainly  cry.  But 
I  think  it  is  very  foolish  to  cry  over 
what  cannot  be  helped,  so  I  pretend- 
ed to  have  got  something  into  my 
left  eye,  and  rubbed  it  with  my  paw. 
It  is  very  seldom  that  I  cry  over 
any  thing,  unless  it  is  "  spilt  milk." 


32  LETTERS  FROM  A    CAT. 

I  must  confess,  I  have  often  cried 
when  that  has  happened :  and  it 
always  is  happening  to  cats'  milk. 
They  put  it  into  old  broken  things 
that  tip  over  at  the  least  knock,  and 
then  they  set  them  just  where  they 
are  sure  to  be  most  in  the  way. 
Many's  the  time  Josiah  has  knocked 
over  that  blue  saucer  of  mine,  in  the 
shed,  and  when  you  have  thought 
that  I  had  had  a  nice  breakfast  of 
milk,  I  had  nothing  in  the  world 
but  flies,  which  are  not  good  for 
much  more  than  just  a  little  sort 
of  relish.  I  am  so  glad  of  a 
chance  to  tell  you  about  this, 
because    I    know    when   you    come 


I  hope  you  found  the  horse-chestnuts  which  I  put  in  the  carriage  for  you.     I  had 
a  dreadful  time  climbing  up  over  the  dasher  with  them."  —  Page  33. 


LETTERS  FROM  A    CAT.  33 

home  you  will  get  a  better  dish 
for  me. 

I  hope  you  found  the  horse- 
chestnuts  which  I  put  in  the  bot- 
tom of  the  carriage  for  you.  I 
could  not  think  of  any  thing  else  to 
put  in,  which  would  remind  you  of 
me :  but  I  am  afraid  you  will  never 
think  that  it  was  I  who  put  them 
there,  and  it  will  be  too  bad  if  you 
don't,  for  I  had  a  dreadful  time 
climbing  up  over  the  dasher  with 
them,  and  both  my  jaws  are  quite 
lame  from  stretching  them  so,  to 
carry  the  biggest  ones  I  could  find. 

There  are  three  beautiful  dan- 
delions   out    on    the    terrace,   but    I 


34  LETTERS  FROM  A    CAT. 

don't  suppose  they  will  keep  till 
you  come  home.  A  man  has  been 
doing  something  to  your  garden,  but 
though  I  watched  him  very  closely 
all  the  time,  I  could  not  make  out 
what  he  was  about.  I  am  afraid  it 
is  something  you  will  not  like ;  but 
if  I  find  out  more  about  it,  I  will 
tell  you  in  my  next  letter.  Good 
by. 

Your  affectionate         Pussy. 


^^M^ 


II. 


My  Dear  Helen: 

I  do  wish  that  you  and  your 
father  would  turn  around  directly, 
wherever  you  are,  when  you  get  this 
letter,  and  come  home  as  fast  as  you 
can.  If  you  do  not  come  soon  there 
will  be  no  home  left  for  you  to 
come  into.  I  am  so  frightened  and 
excited,  that  my  paws  tremble,  and  I 
have  upset  the  ink  twice,  and  spilled 
so  much  that  there  is  only  a  little 
left  in  the  bottom  of   the  cup,  and 


36  LETTERS  FROM  A    CAT. 

it  is  as  thick  as  hasty  pudding;  so 
you  must  excuse  the  looks  of  this 
letter,  and  I  will  tell  you  as  quickly 
as  I  can  about  the  dreadful  state  of 
things  here.  Not  more  than  an 
hour  after  I  finished  my  letter  to 
you,  yesterday,  I  heard  a  great  noise 
in  the  parlor,  and  ran  in  to  see  what 
was  the  matter.  There  was  Mary 
with  her  worst  blue  handkerchief 
tied  over  her  head,  her  washing-day 
gown  on,  and  a  big  hammer  in  her 
hand.  As  soon  as  she  saw  me,  she 
said,  "  There  's  that  cat !  Always 
in  my  way,"  and  threw  a  cricket  at 
me,  and  then  shut  the  parlor  door 
with   a   great  slam.      So    I    ran  out 


LETTERS.  FROM  A    CAT. 


and  listened  under  the  front  win- 
dows, for  I  felt  sure  she  was  in 
some  bad  business  she  did  not  want 
to  have  known.  Such  a  noise  I 
never  heard :  all  the  things  were 
being  moved  ;  and  in'  a  few  minutes, 
what  do  you  think  —  out  came  the 
whole  carpet  right  on  my  head!  I 
was  nearly  stifled  with  dust,  and  felt 
as  if  every  bone  in  my  body  must 
be  broken ;  but  I  managed  to  creep 
out  from  under  it,  and  heard  Mary 
say,  "If  there  isn't  that  torment  of 
a  cat  again !  I  wish  to  goodness 
Helen  had  taken  her  along!" 
Then  I  felt  surer  than  ever  that 
some  mischief  was  on  foot ;   and   I 


38  LETTERS  FROM  A    CAT. 

ran  out  into  the  garden,  and  climbed 
up  the  old  apple-tree  at  the  foot  of 
the  steps,  and  crawled  out  on  a 
branch,  from  which  I  could  look 
directly  into  the  parlor  windows. 
Oh  !  my  dear  Helen,  you  can  fancy 
how  I  felt,  to  see  all  the  chairs  and 
tables  and  bookshelves  in  a  pile  in 
the  middle  of  the  floor,  the  books 
all  packed  in  big  baskets,  and  Mary 
taking-  out  window  after  window  as 
fast  as  she  could.  I  forgot  to  tell 
you  that  your  mother  went  away 
last  night.  I  think  she  has  gone  to 
Hadley  to  make  a  visit,  and  it  looks 
to  me  very  much  as  if  Mary  meant 
to  run  away  with  every  thing  which 


:  I  climbed  up  the  old  apple-tree,  and  crawled  out  on  a  branch  from  which  I  could 
look  directly  into  the  parlor  windows."  —  Page  3S. 


LETTERS  FROM  A    CAT.  39 

could  be  moved,  before  she  comes 
back.  After  awhile  that  ugly  Irish- 
woman, who  lives  in  Mr.  Slater's 
house,  came  into  the  back  gate:  you 
know  the  one  I  mean, — the  one  that 
threw  cold  water  on  me  last  spring. 
When  I  saw  her  coming  I  felt 
sure  that  she  and  Mary  meant 
to  kill  me,  while  you  were  all  away ; 
so  I  jumped  down  out  of  the  tree, 
and  split  my  best  claw  in  my  hurry, 
and  ran  off  into  Baker  's  Grove,  and 
stayed  there  all  the  rest  of  the  day, 
in  dreadful  misery  from  cold  and 
hunger.  There  was  some  snow  in 
the  hollows,  and  I  wet  my  feet,  which 
always   makes   me   feel   wretchedly ; 


40  LETTERS  FROM  A    CAT. 

and  I  could  not  find  any  thing  to 
eat  except  a  thin  dried-up  old  mole. 
They  are  never  good  in  the  spring. 
Really,  nobody  does  know  what 
hard  lives  we  cats  lead,  even  the 
luckiest  of  us!  After  dark,  I  went 
home ;  but  Mary  had  fastened  up 
every  door,  even  the  little  one  into 
the  back  shed.  So  I  had  to  jump 
into  the  cellar  window,  which  is  a 
thing  I  never  like  to  do  since  I  got 
that  bad  sprain  in  my  shoulder  from 
coming  down  on  the  edge  of  a  milk- 
pan.  I  crept  up  to  the  head  of  the 
kitchen  stairs,  as  still  as  a  mouse,  if 
I  'm  any  judge,  and  listened  there 
for  a  long  time,    to    try   and    make 


:  I  crept  up  to  the  head  of  the  kitchen  stairs,  as  still  as  a  mouse,  if 
I  'm  any  judge,  and  listened."  —  Page  40. 


LETTERS  FROM  A    CAT.  41 

out,  from  Mary's  talk  with  the  Irish- 
woman, what  they  were  planning  to 
do.  But  I  never  could  understand 
Irish,  and  although  I  listened  till  I 
had  cramps  in  all  my  legs,  from 
being  so  long  in  one  position,  I  was 
no  wiser.  Even  the  things  Mary 
said  I  could  not  understand,  and  I 
usually  understand  her  very  easily. 
I  passed  a  very  uncomfortable  night 
in  the  carrot  bin.  As  soon  as  I 
heard  Mary  coming  down  the  cellar 
stairs,  this  morning,  I  hid  in  the 
arch,  and  while  she  was  skimming 
the  milk,  I  slipped  upstairs,  and  ran 
into  the  'sitting-room.  Every  thing 
there  is  in  the  same  confusion ;   the 


42  LETTERS  FROM  A    CAT. 

carpet  is  gone;  and  the  windows  too, 
and  I  think  some  of  the  chairs  have 
been  carried  away.  All  the  china 
is  in  great  baskets  on  the  pantry 
floor;  and  your  father  and  mother's 
clothes  are  all  taken  out  of  the  nur- 
sery closet,  and  laid  on  chairs.  It 
is  very  dreadful  to  have  to  stand  by 
and  see  all  this,  and  not  be  able  to 
do  any  thing.  I  don't  think  I  ever 
fully  realized  before  the  disadvan- 
tage of  being  only  a  cat.  I  have 
just  been  across  the  street,  and 
talked  it  all  over  with  the  Judge's 
cat,  but  she  is  very  old  and  stupid, 
and  so  taken  up  with  her  six  kittens 
(who  are    the  ugliest    I    ever    saw), 


LETTERS  FROM  A    CAT  43 

that  she  does  not  take  the  least  in- 
terest in  her  neighbors'  affairs.  Mrs. 
Hitchcock  walked  by  the  house  this 
morning,  and  I  ran  out  to  her,  and 
took  her  dress  in  my  teeth  and 
pulled  it,  and  did  all  I  could  to 
make  her  come  in,  but  she  said, 
"  No,  no,  pussy,  I  'm  not  coming 
in  to-day ;  your  mistress  is  not  at 
home."  I  declare  I  could  have 
cried.  I  sat  down  in  the  middle 
of  the  path,  and  never  stirred  for 
half  an  hour. 

I  heard  your  friend,  Hannah 
Dorrance,  say  yesterday,  that  she 
was  going  to  write  to  you  to-day, 
so  I  shall  run  up  the  hill  now  and 


44  LETTERS  FROM  A    CAT. 

carry  my  letter  to  her.  I  think  she 
will  be  astonished  when  she  sees  me, 
for  I  am  very  sure  that  no  other 
cat  in  town  knows  how  to  write. 
Do  come  home  as  soon  as  possible. 
Your  affectionate        Pussy. 

P.  S.  Two  men  have  just 
driven  up  to  the  front  gate  in  a 
great  cart,  and  they  are  putting  all 
the  carpets  into  it.  Oh  dear,  oh 
dear,  if  I  only  knew  what  to  do ! 
And  I  just  heard  Mary  say  to 
them,  "  Be  as  quick  as  you  can,  for  I 
want  to  get  through  with  this  busi- 
ness  before  the  folks  come  back." 


III. 


My  Dear   Helen: 

I  am  too  stiff  and  sore  from  a 
terrible  fall  I  have  had,  to  write 
more  than  one  line ;  but  I  must  let 
you  know  that  my  fright  was  very 
silly,  and  I  am  very  much  mortified 
about  it.  The  house  and  the  things 
are  all  safe;  your  mother  has  come 
home ;  and  I  will  write,  and  tell 
you  all,  just  as  soon  as  I  can  use 
my  pen  without  great  pain. 


46  LETTERS  FROM  A    CAT. 

Some  new  people  have  come 
to  live  in  the  Nelson  house;  very 
nice  people,  I  think,  for  they  keep 
their  milk  in  yellow  crockery  pans. 
They  have  brought  with  them  a 
splendid  black  cat  whose  name  is 
Caesar,  and  everybody  is  talking 
about  him.  He  has  the  handsom- 
est whiskers  I  ever  saw.  I  do  hope 
I  shall  be  well  enough  to  see  him 
before  long,  but  I  wouldn't  have 
him  see  me  now  for  any  thing. 

Your  affectionate        Pussy. 


IV. 


My  Dear   Helen: 

There  is  one  thing  that  cats 
don't  like  any  better  than  men  and 
women  do,  and  that  is  to  make  fools 
of  themselves.  But  a  precious  fool 
I  made  of  myself  when  I  wrote  you 
that  long  letter  about  Mary's  mov- 
ing out  all  the  furniture,  and  taking 
the  house  down.  It  is  very  mortify- 
ing to  have  to  tell  you  how  it  all 
turned  out,  but  I  know  you  love  me 


48  LETTERS  FROM  A    CAT 

enough  to  be  sorry  that  I  should 
have  had  such  a  terrible  fright  for 
nothing. 

It  went  on  from  bad  to  worse 
for  three  more  days  after  I  wrote 
you.  Your  mother  did  not  come 
home;  and  the  awful  Irishwoman 
was  here  all  the  time.  I  did  not 
dare  to  go  near  the  house,  and  I  do 
assure  you  I  nearly  starved :  I  used 
to  lie  under  the  rose-bushes,  and 
watch  as  well  as  I  could  what  was 
going  on :  now  and  then  I  caught 
a  rat  in  the  barn,  but  that  sort  of 
hearty  food  never  has  agreed  with 
me  since  I  came  to  live  with  you, 
and  became  accustomed  to  a  lighter 


5;  i 


_    3 


>     &< 


LETTERS  FROM  A    CAT.  49 

diet.  By  the  third  day  I  felt  too 
weak  and  sick  to  stir :  so  I  lay  still 
all  day  on  the  straw  in  Charlie's 
stall ;  and  I  really  thought,  between 
the  hunger  and  the  anxiety,  that  I 
should  die.  About  noon  I  heard 
Mary  say  in  the  shed,  "I  do  believe 
that  everlasting  cat  has  taken  herself 
off:  it's  a  good  riddance  anyhow, 
but  I  should  like  to  know  what  has 
become  of  the  plaguy  thing  !  " 

I  trembled  all  over,  for  if  she 
had  come  into  the  barn  I  know  one 
kick  from  her  heavy  foot  would 
have  killed  me,  and  I  was  quite  too 
weak  to  run  away.  Towards  night 
I    heard   your   dear   mother's  voice 


50  LETTERS  FROM  A    CAT. 

calling,     "  Poor    pussy,    why,    poor 
pussy,  where  are  you  ? " 

I  assure  you,  my  dear  Helen, 
people  are  very  much  mistaken  who 
say,  as  I  have  often  overheard  them, 
that  cats  have  no  feeling.  If  they 
could  only  know  how  I  felt  at  that 
moment,  they  would  change  their 
minds.  I  was  almost  too  glad  to 
make  a  sound.  It  seemed  to  me 
that  my  feet  were  fastened  to  the 
floor,  and  that  I  never  could  get  to 
her.  She  took  me  up  in  her  arms, 
and  carried  me  through  the  kitchen 
into  the  sitting-room.  Mary  was 
frying  cakes  in  the  kitchen,  and  as 
your    mother    passed    by    the    stove 


LETTERS  FROM  A    CAT.  51 

she  said  in  her  sweet  voice,- "  You 
see  I  Ve  found  poor  pussy,  Mary." 
"  Humph,"  said  Mary,  "  I  never, 
thought  but  that  she'd  be  found 
fast  enough  when  she  wanted  to 
be ! "  I  knew  that  this  was  a  lie, 
because  I  had  heard  what  she  said 
in  the  shed.  I  do  wish  I  knew 
what  makes  her  hate  me  so :  I 
only  wish  she  knew  how  I  hate 
her.  I  really  think  I  shall  gnaw 
her  stockings  and  shoes  some  night. 
It  would  not  be  any  more  than  fair; 
and  she  would  never  suspect  me, 
there  are  so  many  mice  in  her  room, 
for  I  never  touch  one  that  I  think 
belongs  in  her  closet. 


52  LETTERS  FROM  A    CAT. 

The  sitting-room  was  all  in 
most  beautiful  order,  —  a  smooth 
white  something,  like  the  side  of  a 
basket,  over  the  whole  floor,  a  beau- 
tiful paper  curtain,  pink  and  white, 
over  the  fire-place,  and  white  muslin 
curtains  at  the  windows.  I  stood 
perfectly  still  in  the  middle  of  the 
room  for  some  time.  I  was  too  sur- 
prised to  stir.  Oh,  how  I  wished 
that  I  could  speak,  and  tell  your 
dear  mother  all  that  had  happened, 
and  how  the  room  had  looked  three 
days  before.  Presently  she  said, 
"  Poor  pussy,  I  know  you  are  al- 
most starved,  aren't  you  ? "  and  I 
said   "  Yes,"   as   plainly   as    I    could 


LETTERS  FROM  A    CAT.  53 

mew  it.  Then  she  brought  me  a 
big  soup-plate  full  of  thick  cream, 
and  some  of  the  most  delicious  cold 
hash  I  ever  tasted;  and  after  I  had 
eaten  it  all,  she  took  me  in  her  lap, 
and  said,  "  Poor  pussy,  we  miss 
little  Helen,  don't  we?"  and  she 
held  me  in  her  lap  till  bed-time. 
Then  she  let  me  sleep  on  the  foot 
of  her  bed:  it  was  one  of  the  hap- 
piest nights  of  my  life.  In  the 
middle  of  the  night  I  was  up  for 
a  while,  and  caught  the  smallest 
mouse  I  ever  saw  out  of  the  nest. 
Such  little  ones  are  very  tender. 

In     the     morning     I    had     my 
breakfast    with    her    in    the    dining- 


54  LETTERS  FROM  A    CAT. 

room,  which  looks  just  as  nice  as 
the  sitting-room.  After  breakfast 
Mrs.  Hitchcock  came  in,  and  your 
mother  said  :  "  Only  think,  how  for- 
tunate I  am ;  Mary  did  all  the 
house-cleaning  while  I  was  away. 
Every  room  is  in  perfect  order ; 
all  the  woollen  clothes  are  put 
away  for  the  summer.  Poor  pussy, 
here,  was  frightened  out  of  the 
house,  and  I  suppose  we  should 
all  have  been  if  we  had  been  at 
home." 

Can  you  imagine  how  ashamed 
I  felt  ?  I  ran  under  the  table  and 
did  not  come  out  again  until  after 
Mrs.  Hitchcock  had  gone.     But  now 


1  Can  you  imagine  how  ashamed  I  felt  ?  I  ran  under  the  table  and  did  not  come 
out  again  until  after  Mrs.  Hitchcock  had  gone."  —  Page  54. 


"  I  knew  that  there  was  no  time  to  be  lost  if  I  meant  to  catch  that  robin,  so  I 
ran  with  all  my  might  and  tried  to  jump  through."  —  Page  55. 


LETTERS  FROM  A    CAT,  55 

comes  the  saddest  part  of  my  story. 
Soon  after  this,  as  I  was  looking 
out  of  the  window,  I  saw  the  fat- 
test, most  tempting  robin  on  the 
ground  under  the  cherry-tree :  the 
windows  did  not  look  as  if  they 
had  any  glass  in  them,  and  I  took 
it  for  granted  that  it  had  all  been 
taken  out  and  put  away  upstairs, 
with  the  andirons  and  the  carpets, 
for  next  winter.  I  knew  that  there 
was  no  time  to  be  lost  if  I  meant 
to  catch  that  robin,  so  I  ran  with 
all  my  might  and  tried  to  jump 
through.  Oh,  my  dear  Helen,  I  do 
not  believe  you  ever  had  such  a 
bump :    I    fell   back   nearly  into  the 


56  LETTERS  FROM  A    CAT. 

middle  of  the  room ;  and  it  seemed 
to  me  that  I  turned  completely 
over  at  least  six  times.  The  blood 
streamed  out  of  my  nose,  and  I  cut 
my  right  ear  very  badly  against  one 
of  the  castors  of  the  table.  I  could 
not  see  nor  hear  any  thing  for  some 
minutes.  When  I  came  to  myself, 
I  found  your  dear  mother  holding 
me,  and  wiping  my  face  with  her 
own  nice  handkerchief  wet  in  cold 
water.  My  right  fore-paw  was  badly 
bruised,  and  that  troubles  me  very 
much  about  washing  my  face,  and 
about  writing.  But  the  worst  of  all 
is  the  condition  of  my  nose.  Every- 
body laughs  who  sees  me,  and  I  do 


LETTERS  FROM  A    CAT  $7 

not  blame  them ;  it  is  twice  as  large 
as  it  used  to  be,  and  I  begin  to  be 
seriously  afraid  it  will  never  return 
to  its  old  shape.  This  will  be  a 
dreadful  affliction :  for  who  does  not 
know  that  the  nose  is  the  chief 
beauty  of  a  cat's  face  ?  I  have  got 
very  tired  of  hearing  the  story  of 
my  fall  told  to  all  the  people  who 
come  in.  They  laugh  as  if  they 
would  kill  themselves  at  it,  espe- 
cially when  I  do  not  manage  to  get 
under  the  table  before  they  look  to 
see  how  my  nose  is. 

Except  for  this  I  should  have 
written  to  you  before,  and  would 
write  more  now,  but  my  paw  aches 


58 

LETTERS  FROM  A    CAT. 

badly, 

and  one  of  my  eyes  is  nearly 

closed 

from    the    swelling    of 

my 

nose : 

so   I   must  say  good-by. 

Your  affectionate         Pi 

JSSY. 

P.  S.      I  told  you  about  Caesar, 

did   I 

not,   in   my  last    letter  ? 

Of 

course 

I   do  not  venture  out  of  the 

house 

in    my   present    plight,    j 

so    I 

have  not  seen  him  except  from 

the 

window. 

*4^^ 

V. 


My  Dear  Helen: 

I  am  sure  you  must  have  won- 
dered why  I  have  not  written  to 
you  for  the  last  two  weeks,  but 
when  you  hear  what  I  have  been 
through,  you  will  only  wonder  that 
I  am  alive  to  write  to  you  at  all.  I 
was  very  glad  to  hear  your  mother 
say,  yesterday,  that  she  had  not  writ- 
ten to  you  about  what  had  happened 
to  me,  because  it  would  make   you 


60  LETTERS  FROM  A    CAT. 

so  unhappy.  But  now  that  it  is  all 
over,  and  I  am  in  a  fair  way  to  be 
soon  as  well  as  ever,  I  think  you 
will  like  to  hear  the  whole  story. 

In  my  last  letter  I  told  you 
about  the  new  black  cat,  Caesar, 
who  had  come  to  live  in  the  Nelson 
house,  and  how  anxious  I  was  to 
know  him.  As  soon  as  my  nose 
was  fit  to  be  seen,  Judge  Dickin- 
son's cat,  who  is  a  good,  hospitable 
old  soul,  in  spite  of  her  stupidity, 
invited  me  to  tea,  and  asked  him 
too.  All  the  other  cats  were  asked 
to  come  later  in  the  evening,  and  we 
had  a  grand  frolic,  hunting  rats 
in  the    Judge's  great  barn.     Caesar 


3  Jt 

o    =* 


n>     o 

8    £ 


«■  o 

8  S 

-  o 

I  E- 

in  a- 


When  there  suddenly  came  down  on  us  a  whole  pailful  of  water. 
Page  6i. 


LETTERS  FROM  A    CAT.  61 

is  certainly  the  handsomest  and  most 
gentlemanly  cat  I  ever  saw.  He 
paid  me  great  attention  :  in  fact,  so 
much,  that  one  of  those  miserable 
half-starved  cats  from  Mill  Valley 
grew  so  jealous  that  she  flew  at  me 
and  bit  my  ear  till  it  bled,  which 
broke  up  the  party.  But  Caesar 
went  home  with  me,  so  I  did  not 
care ;  then  we  sat  and  talked  a  long 
time  under  the  nursery  window.  I 
was  so  much  occupied  in  what  he 
was  saying,  that  I  did  not  hear 
Mary  open  the  window  overhead, 
and  was  therefore  terribly  frightened 
when  there  suddenly  came  down  on 
us  a  whole  pailful  of  water.      I  was 


62  LETTERS  FROM  A    CAT. 


so  startled  that  I  lost  all  presence  of 
mind ;  and  without  bidding  him 
good-night,  I  jumped  directly  into 
the  cellar  window  by  which  we  were 
sitting.  Oh,  my  dear  Helen,  I  can 
never  give  you  any  idea  of  what  fol- 
lowed. Instead  of  coming  down  as 
I  expected  to  on  the  cabbages,  which 
were  just  under  that  window  the 
last  time  I  was  in  the  cellar,  I  found 
myself  sinking,  sinking,  into  some 
horrible  soft,  slimy,  sticky  substance, 
which  in  an  instant  more  would 
have  closed  over  my  head,  and  suffo- 
cated me  ;  but,  fortunately,  as  I  sank, 
I  felt  something  hard  at  one  side, 
and  making  a  great  effort,  I  caught 


LETTERS  FROM  A    CAT.  63 

on  it  with  my  claws.  It  proved  to 
be  the  side  of  a  barrel,  and  I  suc- 
ceeded in  getting  one  paw  over  the 
edge  of  it.  There  I  hung,  growing 
weaker  and  weaker  every  minute, 
with  this  frightful  stuff  running  into 
my  eyes  and  ears,  and  choking  me 
with  its  bad  smell.  I  mewed  as 
loud  as  I  could,  which  was  not  very 
loud,  for  whenever  I  opened  my 
mouth  the  stuff  trickled  into  it 
off  my  whiskers ;  but  I  called 
to  Caesar,  who  stood  in  great 
distress  at  the  window,  and  ex- 
plained to  him,  as  well  as  I  could, 
what  had  happened  to  me,  and 
begged  him  to  call  as  loudly  as  pos- 


64  LETTERS  FROM  A    CAT 

sible;  for  if  somebody  did  not  come 
very  soon,  and  take  me  out,  I  should 
certainly  die.  He  insisted,  at  first, 
on  jumping  down  to  help  me  him- 
self ;  but  I  told  him  that  would  be 
the  most  foolish  thing  he  could  do ; 
if  he  did,  we  should  certainly  both 
be  drowned.  So  he  began  to  mew 
at  the  top  of  his  voice,  and  between 
his  mewing  and  mine,  there  was 
noise  enough  for  a  few  minutes ; 
then  windows  began  to  open,  and  I 
heard  your  grandfather  swearing 
and  throwing  out  a  stick  of  wood 
at  Caesar ;  fortunately  he  was  so 
near  the  house  that  it  did  not  hit 
him.       At    last     your    grandfather 


LETTERS  FROM  A    CAT.  65 

came  downstairs,  and  opened  the 
back  door ;  and  Caesar  was  so  fright- 
ened that  he  ran  away,  for  which  I 
have  never  thought  so  well  of  him 
since,  though  we  are  still  very  good 
friends.  When  I  heard  him  run- 
ning off,  and  calling  back  to  me, 
from  a  distance,  that  he  was  so  sorry 
he  could  not  help  me,  my  courage 
began  to  fail,  and  in  a  moment  more, 
I  should  have  let  go  of  the  edge  of 
the  barrel,  and  sunk  to  the  bottom ; 
but  luckily  your  grandfather  noticed 
that  there  was  something  very  strange 
about  my  mewing,  and  opened  the 
door  at  the  head  of  the  cellar 
stairs,  saying,  "I   do  believe  the  cat 


66  LETTERS  FROM  A    CAT. 

is  in  some  trouble  down  here." 
Then  I  made  a  great  effort  and 
mewed  still  more  piteously.  How 
I  wished  I  could  call  out  and  say, 
"Yes,  indeed,  I  am;  drowning  to 
death,  in  I  'm  sure  I  don't  know 
what,  but  something  a  great  deal 
worse  than  water!"  However,  he 
understood  me  as  it  was,  and  came 
down  with  a  lamp.  As  soon  as  he 
saw  me,  he  set  the  lamp  down  on 
the  cellar  bottom,  and  laughed  so 
that  he  could  hardly  move.  I 
thought  this  was  the  most  cruel 
thing  I  ever  heard  of.  If  I  had 
not  been,  as  it  were,  at  death's  door, 
I  should  have  laughed  at  him,  too, 


LETTERS  FROM  A    CAT.  67 

for  even  with  my  eyes  full  of  that 
dreadful  stuff,  I  could  see  that  he 
looked  very  funny  in  his  red  night- 
cap, and  without  his  teeth.  He 
called  out  to  Mary,  and  your  mother, 
who  stood  at  the  head  of  the  stairs, 
"  Come  down,  come  down ;  here's 
the  cat  in  the  soft-soap  barrel !"  and 
then  he  laughed  again,  and  they 
both  came  down  the  stairs  laughing, 
even  your  dear  kind  mother,  who  I 
never  could  have  believed  would 
laugh  at  any  one  in  such  trouble. 
They  did  not  seem  to  know  what 
to  do  at  first ;  nobody  wanted  to 
touch  me ;  and  I  began  to  be 
afraid   I    should    drown  while   they 


68  LETTERS  FROM  A    CAT. 

stood  looking  at  me,  for  I  knew 
much  better  than  they  could  how 
weak  I  was  from  holding  on  to 
the  edge  of  the  barrel  so  long. 
At  last  your  grandfather  swore  that 
oath  of  his, — you  know  the  one  I 
mean,  the  one  he  always  swears 
when  he  is  very  sorry  for  anybody, 
—  and  lifted  me  out  by  the  nape  of 
my  neck,  holding  me  as  far  off  from 
him  as  he  could,  for  the  soft  soap 
ran  off  my  legs  and  tail  in  streams. 
He  carried  me  up  into  the  kitchen, 
and  put  me  down  in  the  middle  of 
the  floor,  and  then  they  all  stood 
round  me,  and  laughed  again,  so 
loud  that  they  waked  up  the  cook, 


"  He  lifted  me  out  by  the  nape  of  my  neck,  holding  me  as  far  off 
from  him  as  he  could."  — Page  68. 


LETTERS  FROM  A    CAT.  69 

who  came  running  out  of  her  bed- 
room with  her  tin  candlestick  and  a 
chair  in  her  hand,  thinking  that  rob- 
bers were  breaking  in.  At  last  your 
dear  mother  said,  "  Poor  pussy,  it  is 
too  bad  to  laugh  at  you,  when  you 
are  in  such  pain"  (I  had  been  think- 
ing so  for  some  time).  "  Mary, 
bring  the  small  washtub.  The  only 
thing  we  can  do  is  to  wash  her." 

When  I  heard  this,  I  almost 
wished  they  had  left  me  to  drown 
in  the  soft  soap  ;  for  if  there  is  any 
thing  of  which  I  have  a  mortal 
dread,  it  is  water.  However,  I  was 
too  weak  to  resist ;  and  they  plunged 
me  in  all  over,  into  the  tub  full  of  ice- 


cold  water,  and  Mary  began  to  rub 
me  with  her  great  rough  hands,  which, 
I  assure  you,  are  very  different  from 
yours  and  your  mother's.  Then 
they  all  laughed  again  to  see  the 
white  lather  it  made  ;  in  two  min- 
utes the  whole  tub  was  as  white  as 
the  water  under  the  mill-wheel  that 
you  and  I  have  so  often  been  together 
to  see.  You  can  imagine  how  my 
eyes  smarted.  I  burnt  my  paws 
once  in  getting  a  piece  of  beefsteak 
out  of  the  coals  where  it  had  fallen 
off  the  gridiron,  but  the  pain  of  that 
was  nothing  to  this.  You  will 
hardly  believe  me  when  I  tell  you 
that  they  had  to  empty  the  tub  and 


LETTERS  FROM  A    CAT.  yi 

fill  it  again  ten  times  before  the  soap 
was  all  washed  out  of  my  fur.  By 
that  time  I  was  so  cold  and  ex- 
hausted, that  I  could  not  move,  and 
they  began  to  think  I  should  die. 
But  your  mother  rolled  me  up  in 
one  of  your  old  flannel  petticoats, 
and  made  a  nice  bed  for  me  behind 
the  stove.  By  this  time  even  Mary 
began  to  seem  sorry  for  me,  though 
she  was  very  cross  at  first,  and  hurt 
me  much  more  than  she  need  to 
in  washing  .  me ;  now  she  said, 
"  You  're  nothing  but  a  poor  beast 
of  a  cat,  to  be  sure;  but  it's  mesilf 
that  would  be  sorry  to  have  the  little 
mistress    come    back,    and    find    ye 


72  LETTERS  FROM  A    CAT. 

kilt."  So  you  see  your  love  for 
me  did  me  service,  even  when  you 
were  so  far  away.  I  doubt  very 
much  whether  they  would  have  ever 
taken  the  trouble  to  nurse  me 
through  this  sickness,  except  for  your 
sake.  But  I  must  leave  the  rest  for 
my  next  letter.  I  am  not  strong 
enough  yet  to  write  more  than  two 
hours  at  a  time. 

Your  affectionate         Pussy. 


VI. 


My  Dear  Helen: 

I  will  begin  where  I  left  off  in 
my  last  letter. 

As  you  may  imagine,  I  did  not 
get  any  sleep  that  night,  not  even 
so  much  as  a  cat's  nap,  as  people  say, 
though  how  cat's  naps  differ  from 
men's  and  women's  naps,  I  don't 
know.  I  shivered  all  night,  and  it 
hurt  me  terribly  whenever  I  moved. 
Early  in    the  morning  your   grand- 


74  LETTERS  FROM  A    CAT. 

father  came  downstairs,  and  when 
he  saw  how  I  looked,  he  swore 
again,  that  same  oath :  we  all  know 
very  well  what  it  means  when  he 
swears  in  that  way :  it  means  that 
he  is  going  to  do  all  he  can  for  you, 
and  is  so  sorry,  that  he  is  afraid  of 
seeming  too  sorry.  Don't  you  re- 
member when  you  had  that  big 
double  tooth  pulled  out,  and  he  gave 
you  five  dollars,  how  he  swore  then  ? 
Well,  he  took  me  up  in  his  arms, 
and  carried  me  into  the  dining-room  ; 
it  was  quite  cool ;  there  was  a  nice 
wood  fire  on  the  hearth,  and  Mary 
was  setting  the  table  for  breakfast. 
He  said  to  her  in  a  very  gruff  voice, 


LETTERS  FROM  A    CAT.  75 

"  Here  you,  Mary,  you  go  up  into 
the  garret  and  bring  down  the 
cradle." 

Sick  as  I  was,  I  could  not  help 
laughing  at  the  sight  of  her  face. 
It  was  enough  to  make  any  cat 
laugh. 

"  You  don't  ever  mean  to  say,  sir, 
as  you're  going  to  put  that  cat  into 
the  cradle." 

"  You  do  as  I  tell  you,"  said  he, 
in  that  most  awful  tone  of  his,  which 
always  makes  you  so  afraid.  I  felt 
afraid  myself,  though  all  the  time 
he  was  stroking  my  head,  and  saying, 
"  Poor  pussy,  there,  poor  pussy,  lie 
still."       In    a    few    minutes     Mary 


76  LETTERS  FROM  A    CAT. 

came  down  with  the  cradle,  and  set 
it  down  by  the  fire  with  such  a  bang 
that  I  wondered  it  did  not  break. 
You  know  she  always  bangs  things 
when  she  is  cross,  but  I  never  could 
see  what  good  it  does.  Then  your 
grandfather  made  up  a  nice  bed  in 
the  cradle,  out  of  Charlie's  winter 
blanket  and  an  old  pillow,  and  laid 
me  down  in  it,  all  rolled  up  as  I  was 
in  your  petticoat.  When  your 
mother  came  into  the  room  she 
laughed  almost  as  hard  as  she  did 
when  she  saw  me  in  the  soft-soap 
barrel,  and  said,  "Why,  father,  you 
are  rather  old  to  play  cat's  cradle!" 
The  old  gentleman  laughed  at  this, 


"  Then  your  grandfather  made  up  a  nice  bed  in  the  cradle,  and  laid 
me  down  in  it."  —  Page  76. 


LETTERS  FROM  A    CAT.  77 

till  the  tears  ran  down  his  red  cheeks. 
"  Well,"  he  said,  "  I  tell  you  one 
thing;  the  game  will  last  me  till 
that  poor  cat  gets  well  again."  Then 
he  went  upstairs,  and  brought  down 
a  bottle  of  something  very  soft  and 
slippery,  like  lard,  and  put  it  on  my 
eyes,  and  it  made  them  feel  much 
better.  After  that  he  gave  me  some 
milk  into  which  he  had  put  some 
of  his  very  best  brandy :  that  was 
pretty  hard  to  get  down,  but  I 
understood  enough  of  what  they 
had  said,  to  be  sure  that  if  I  did 
not  take  something  of  the  kind  I 
should  never  get  well.  After  break- 
fast  I  tried   to  walk,  but  my  right 


78  LETTERS  FROM  A    CAT 

paw  was  entirely  useless.  At  first 
they  thought  it  was  broken,  but 
finally  decided  that  it  was  only 
sprained,  and  must  be  bandaged. 
The  bandages  were  wet  with  some- 
thing which  smelled  so  badly  it 
made  me  feel  very  sick,  for  the  first 
day  or  two.  Cats'  noses  are  much 
more  sensitive  to  smells  than  people's 
are;  but  I  grew  used  to  it,  and  it 
did  my  poor  lame  paw  so  much 
good  that  I  would  have  borne  it  if 
it  had  smelled  twice  as  badly.  For 
three  days  I  had  to  lie  all  the  time 
in  the  cradle :  if  your  grandfather 
caught  me  out  of  it,  he  would  swear 
at    me,    and    put    me    back    again. 


LETTERS  FROM  A    CAT  79 

Every  morning  he  put  the  soft  white 
stuff  on  my  eyes,  and  changed  the 
bandages  on  my  leg.  And,  oh,  my 
dear  Helen,  such  good  things  as  I 
had  to  eat !  I  had  almost  the  same 
things  for  my  dinner  that  the  rest 
of  them  did  :  it  must  be  a  splendid 
thing  to  be  a  man  or  a  woman  !  I 
do  not  think  I  shall  ever  again  be 
contented  to  eat  in  the  shed,  and 
have  only  the  old  pieces  which  no- 
body wants. 

Two  things  troubled  me  very 
much  while  I  was  confined*  to  the 
cradle :  one  was  that  everybody  who 
came  in  to  see  your  mother  laughed 
as  if  they  never  could   stop,  at  the 


80  LETTERS  FROM  A    CAT. 

first  sight  of  me ;  and  the  other  was 
that  I  heard  poor  Caesar  mewing 
all  around  the  house*  and  calling  me 
with  all  his  might ;  and  I  knew  he 
thought  I  was  dead.  I  tried  hard 
to  make  your  kind  mother  notice 
his  crying,  for  I  knew  she  would  be 
willing  to  let  him  come  in  and  see 
me,  but  I  could  not  make  her  under- 
stand. I  suppose  she  thought  it 
was  only  some  common  strolling  cat 
who  was  hungry.  I  have  always 
noticed  that  people  do  not  observe 
any  difference  between  one  cat's 
voice  and  another's;  now  they  really 
are  just  as  different  as  human  voices. 
Caesar  has  one  of  the  finest,  deepest- 


LETTERS  FROM  A    CAT.  81 

toned  voices  I  ever  heard.  One 
day,  after  I  got  well  enough  to  be  in 
the  kitchen,  he  slipped  in,  between 
the  legs  of  the  butcher's  boy  who 
was  bringing  in  some  meat ;  but 
before  I  had  time  to  say  one  word 
to  him,  Mary  flew  at  him  with  the 
broom,  and  drove  him  out.  How- 
ever, he  saw  that  I  was  alive,  and 
that  was  something.  I  am  afraid 
it  will  be  some  days  yet  before  I 
can  see  him  again,  for  they  do  not 
let  me  go  out  at  all,  and  the  band- 
ages are  not  taken  off  my  leg. 
The  cradle  is  carried  upstairs,  and 
I  sleep  on  Charlie's  blanket  behind 
the    stove.      I     heard    your    mother 


say  to-day  that  she  really  believed 
the  cat  had  the  rheumatism.  I  do 
not  know  what  that  is,  but  I  think 
I  have  got  it :  it  hurts  me  all  over 
when  I  walk,  and  I  feel  as  if  I 
looked  like  Bill  Jacobs's  old  cat, 
who,  they  say,  is  older  than  the  old- 
est man  in  town ;  but  of  course  that 
must  be  a  slander. 

The  thing  I  am  most  concerned 
about  is  my  fur;  it  is  coming  off  in 
spots:  there  is  a  bare  spot  on  the 
back  of  my  neck,  on  the  place  by 
which  they  lifted  me  up  out  of  the 
soap  barrel,  half  as  large  as  your 
hand ;  and  whenever  I  wash  my- 
self,  I   get  my  mouth  full  of  hairs, 


LETTERS  FROM  A    CAT.  83 

which  is  very  disagreeable.  I  heard 
your  grandfather  say  to-day,  that  he 
believed  he  would  try  Mrs.  Some- 
body's Hair  Restorer  on  the  cat,  at 
which  everybody  laughed  so  that 
I  ran  out  of  the  room  as  fast  as  I 
could  go,  and  then  they  laughed 
still  harder.  I  will  write  you  again 
in  a  day  or  two,  and  tell  you  how 
I  am  getting  on.  I  hope  you  will 
come  home  soon. 

Your  affectionate         Pussy. 


VII. 


My  Dear   Helen: 

I  am  so  glad  to  know  that  you 
are  coming  home  next  week,  that 
I  cannot  think  of  any  thing  else. 
There  is  only  one  drawback  to  my 
pleasure,  and  that  is,  I  am  so 
ashamed  to  have  you  see  me  in  such 
a  plight.  I  told  you,  in  my  last 
letter,  that  my  fur  was  beginning  to 
come  off.  Your  grandfather  has 
tried  several  things  of  his,  which  are 


LETTERS  FROM  A    CAT.  85 

said  to  be  good  for  hair ;  but 
they  have  not  had  the  least  effect. 
For  my  part  I  don't  see  why  they 
should ;  fur  and  hair  are  two  very 
different  things,  and  I  thought  at 
the  outset  there  was  no  use  in  put- 
ting on  my  skin  what  was  intended 
for  the  skin  of  human  heads,  and 
even  on  them  don't  seem  to  work 
any  great  wonders,  if  I  can  judge 
from  your  grandfather's  head,  which 
you  know  is  as  bald  and  pink  and 
shiny  as  a  baby's.  However,  he 
has  been  so  good  to  me,  that  I  let 
him  do  any  thing  he  likes,  and  every 
day  he  rubs  in  some  new  kind  of 
stuff,    which    smells    a    little    worse 


86  LETTERS  FROM  A    CAT. 

than  the  last  one.  It  is  utterly  im- 
possible for  me  to  get  within  half  a 
mile  of  a  rat  or  a  mouse.  I  nwht 
as  well  fire  off  a  gun  to  let  them 
know  I  am  coming,  as  to  go  about 
scented  up  so  that  they  can  smell 
me  a  great  deal  farther  off  than  they 
can  see  me.  If  it  were  not  for  this 
dreadful  state  of  my  fur,  I  should 
be  perfectly  happy,  for  I  feel  much 
better  than  I  ever  did  before  in  my 
whole  life,  and  am  twice  as  fat  as 
when  you  went  away.  I  try  to  be 
resigned  to  whatever  may  be  in  store 
for  me,  but  it  is  very  hard  to  look 
forward  to  being  a  fright  all  the  rest 
of  one's  days.      I  don't  suppose  such 


LETTERS  FROM  A    CAT.  S? 

a  thing  was  ever  seen  in  the  world 
as  a  cat  without  any  fur.  This 
morning  your  grandfather  sat  look- 
ing at  me  for  a  long  time  and  strok- 
ing  his  chin :  at  last  he  said,  "  Do 
you  suppose  it  would  do  any  good 
to  shave  the  cat  all  over  ? "  At  this 
I  could  not  resist  the  impulse  to 
scream,  and  your  mother  said,  "  I 
do  believe  the  creature  knows  when- 
ever we  speak  about  her."  Of 
course  I  do !  Why  in  the  world 
shouldn't  I  !  People  never  seem  to 
observe  that  cats  have  ears.  I  often 
think  how  much  more  careful  they 
would  be  if  they  did.  I  have 
laughed   many   a  time  to   see  them 


88  LETTERS  FROM  A    CAT. 

send  children  out  of  the  room,  and 
leave  me  behind,  when  I  knew  per- 
fectly well  that  the  children  would 
neither  notice  nor  understand  half 
so  much  as  I  would.  There  are 
some  houses  in  which  I  lived, 
before  I  came  to  live  with  you, 
about  which  I  could  tell  strange 
stories  if   I   chose. 

Caesar  pretends  that  he  likes  the 
looks  of  little  spots  of  pink  skin, 
here  and  there,  in  fur ;  but  I  know 
he  only  does  it  to  save  my  feelings, 
for  it  isn't  in  human  nature —  I  mean 
in  cat's  nature  —  that  any  one  should. 
You  see  I  spend  so  much  more 
time  in  the  society  of  men  and  wo- 


LETTERS  FROM  A    CAT.  89 

men  than  of  cats,  that  I  find  myself 
constantly  using  expressions  which 
sound  queerly  in  a  cat's  mouth. 
But  you  know  me  well  enough  to  be 
sure  that  every  thing  I  say  is  per- 
fectly natural.  And  now,  my  dear 
Helen,  I  hope  I  have  prepared  you 
to  see  me  looking  perfectly  hideous. 
I  only  trust  that  your  love  for  me 
will  not  be  entirely  killed  by  my 
unfortunate  appearance.  If  you  do 
seem  to  love  me  less,  I  shall  be 
wretched,  but  I  shall  still  be,  always, 
Your  affectionate         Pussy. 


